Australia is open for international visitors, and Canadians are chomping at the bit. Canadian consumers recognize that Australia did a good job handling COVID-19, and that there’s a “huge demand” for visits amongst Canadian travelleres, Chris Allison, the North America acting general manager for Tourism Australia, said at a Tourism Australia “Australia On Tour” event in downtown Toronto on Tuesday. A study in December found that Canadian interest in visiting Australia was back to pre-pandemic levels. Tim Liu, Managing Director, Sales Planning & Effectiveness at Air Canada, said Air Canada recognizes the increased interest and is responding with more flights. Read more
Asia
Canadian searches for international flights are outweighing those for domestic trips, but flights within Canada remain very popular, a new study says. Kayak.com looked at flight searches for the week of April 10 and compared them three years ago, prior to the pandemic, and then to a month ago. For three year comparisons, they found Dubai led the way, with searches up 105% since April of 2019. Next was Halifax at 97%, followed by Istanbul at 90%. For month-over-month comparisons, searches for flights to Frankfurt were on top, with a gain of 17% from March to April of this year. Read more
Hong Kong is ending it’s two-year ban on visits from Canadians, Americans and British residents, and also slashing its quarantine requirement. The city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, announced during a press conference Monday that Hong Kong on April 1 will lift flight bans on nine countries, including Canada, Britain, Australia, India and the U.S., as well as reduce quarantine times at special hotels from 14 days to seven. Travellers would have to test negative for COVID-19 on the sixth and seventh day of quarantine to end their isolation before 14 days. In addition, all visitors to Hong Kong must be Read more
By Jim Byers Member, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) There’s further evidence of a travel rebound in Canada and around the world. Air Canada today announced an expanded Summer 2022 international schedule with 34 routes relaunching across the Atlantic and Pacific. Starting next month, non-stop services will begin resuming from Toronto to Tel Aviv, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna and Edinburgh, signs that recovery is well underway. Service from Montreal to Casablanca, Nice, Rome, Tel Aviv and Tokyo will also be resuming. From Vancouver, Air Canada will be offering service to Frankfurt, Dublin, and Zurich. Air Canada is also relaunching Read more
Two great countries for foodies and travelers on a budget are moving to open for visitors. Vietnam this week announced plans to fully reopen its borders to foreign visitors “ideally at the end of March and no later than the end of April.” “We may be facing a further rise of omicron and possibly other new variants,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said recently. “However, with higher rates of vaccination along with other measures, we will be able to reopen the country safely, for the sake of economic recovery and development.” The Points Guy website says visitors will need to Read more
